Armenian Genocide memorial flowers get a second life

 April 27, 2016 - 16:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On Wednesday, April 27 the traditional Flower Gathering event took place at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex on the initiative of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets.

Since 2010, FPWC’s General Partner VivaCell-MTS has been supporting the Flower Gathering activities.

The initiative combines the idea of giving a new lease of life to the flowers and the environmental mission that promotes recycling. The flowers laid at the Genocide Memorial on April 24 are gathered, their stems are removed from the petals. The stems are then used for composting the soil in the Genocide Memorial Park, while the petals are recycled into handmade paper, further used for making certificates or postcards.

“In the last few years, this initiative has become the natural continuation of April 24,” FPWC Founder Ruben Khachatryan noted. “The idea of the Flower Gathering has been very consonant with people’s expectations, meeting an especially wide response among youth.”

“This event symbolizes positive changes, optimism, and revival,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian. “It is important to remember the past, but it is just as important to move forward and create new values, become even stronger and have a more conscious attitude towards ourselves and the environment.”

Hundreds of representatives of non-governmental and international organizations, private and public sector representatives, schoolchildren and students, ambassadors and officials participated in the event.